POST THREE OF FIVE
6) BECAUSE OF HIS FAMILIARITY WITH SPECIFIC SPIRITS OF MEN AND THEIR PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS, GOD CHOSE SOME TO PLAY IMPORTANT ROLES IN HIS PLAN
This principle the ancients taught that “
before he created them He knew their thoughts…” (geninza) is not just true of the wicked spirits, but God also knew the characteristics of the good and valiant spirits.
Because of this knowledge, God was able to plan for them to assume specific roles in mortality. Thus
God told Jeremiah the prophet : "
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5)
God’s planning extended not merely to such great roles as prophets, but in teaching his son’s the nature of the souls agreement to come to earth, Enoch taught his sons regarding the : “
...covenant of God, while they are even in their mother’s womb....that even before any person was in his mother’s womb, individually a place I prepared for each soul, as well as a set of scales and a measurement......”
As if to make sure his sons understand the import of this doctrine, Enoch repeats the same doctrine again in just a few lines:
“For I am swearing to you, my children, that before any person existed, a place of judgment was prepared for him and the scale and the weight by means of which a person will be tested were prepared there ahead of time. " (2 enoch 49:1-3)
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7) THE SCHOOL OF MORTALITY
The Jewish Zohar relates the creation of the souls in heaven after that they become fully cognizant and take on characteristics they will keep with them when they are placed into bodies at birththe soul of the female and the soul of the male, are hence preeminent above all the heavenly hosts and camps (even to the point of having gender). Speaking of these fully developed souls the text says : “.” This sacred text continues :
“...It may be wondered, if they [the souls] are thus preeminent on both sides, why do they descend to this world only to be taken thence at some future time? “This may be explained by way of a simile: A king has a son whom he sends to a village to be educated until he shall have been initiated into the ways of the palace. When the king is informed that his son is now come to maturity, the king, out of his love, sends the matron his mother to bring him back into the palace, and there the king rejoices with him every day. [...]Speaking of those left behind who mourn it was taught “Withal, the village people weep for the departure of the king’s son from among them. But one wise man said to them: ‘Why do you weep? Was this not the king’s son, whose true place is in his father’s palace and not with you?...’ “If the righteous were only aware of this, they would be filled with joy when their time comes to leave this world. For does it not honor them greatly that the matron comes down on their account, to take them into the King’s palace, where the King may every day rejoice in them?....And so, happy are the righteous and in the world to come, ... (THE ZOHAR - A SEAL UPON YOUR HEART)
Thus, the ancient doctrine places mankind in the position of Students, who are to learn the moral principles God is trying to teach them. This was integral to early Christian teachings. For example : 2nd
Clement taught : “
we are being trained by the present life” (2 clement 20:2)
New testament era
Ignatius is correct to say to the Ephesians, “
I speak to you as my fellow students. For I need to be trained by you in faith, instruction, endurance, and patience. (Ig-eph 3:1
The Apostle Peter’s protégé
Clement taught that “
through him [Christ] the Master [the Father] has willed that we should taste immortal knowledge”. New Testament Era
Diogenes makes clear that without this “immortal knowledge”, there IS no basis for eternal life in a heavenly existence. Thus he taught the early Christians :
“But the tree of knowledge does not kill, on the contrary, disobedience kills. For it is not without significance that the scriptures record that God in the beginning planted a tree of knowledge and a tree of life in the midst of Paradise, thereby revealing that (eternal) life is through knowledge...For there is neither life without knowledge, nor sound knowledge without true life; therefore each tree stands planted near the other. (Diog 12:2-3)
It is significant in the context of learning, that in early accounts, Eden’s tree of “
knowledge”, is called the tree of “
wisdom”. In Enoch’s vision of heaven he says :
“... And the tree of wisdom, of which one eats and knows great wisdom, (was among them)....This very thing is the tree of wisdom from which your old father and aged mother, they who are your precursors, ate and came to know wisdom; and (consequently) their eyes were opened...” (1Enoch 32:6)
Importantly, the type of wisdom that is gained, includes the type of moral knowledge man was sent here to learn (“
there is no [eternal] life without knowledge”
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8) SPECIFIC TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE ARE REQUISITE TO SAVE US AND PREPARE US TO LIVE IN A PEACEFUL AND HARMONIOUS HEAVEN
Not all TYPES of knowledge have equal value in learning principles that will bring us joy and harmony in the eternities. The ORDER in which we learn principles is important as well.
For example, learning moral laws which underlie and support social harmony are more important than knowledge of how to wage successful war against another. Learning how to hurt another person,
before learning patience to control that knowledge will still not result in joy and harmony, but may result in sadness and disharmony.
A very clear verse from the Hebrew Zohar tells us that : "
All men before they lived on earth were present in heaven in the identical form they possess in this life, and everything they learn on earth they knew already before they came to this world.". If they “knew already” what they came here to learn, then this life must represent a DIFFERENT sort of exposure to similar moral data; a “clinical” and “experiential” exposure to moral principles of good and evil; a time to learn to USE the moral principles we had already been “taught”.
When Christian Clement taught that “
through him [Jesus] the Master has willed that we should taste immortal knowledge”, he was speaking primarily of moral principles that support a more exalted and glorified existence (i.e. moral and social rules of living in joy and harmony in heaven). The inhabitants of heaven must learn and master the characteristics that achieve and sustain a social heaven having unity and joy and harmony for an eternity if such a place is to exist forever. The inhabitants of heaven must master certain characteristics such as charity, patience and long-suffering, love and unity. This was one of the underlying reasons for mortality.
For example: They ancient were taught to learn UNITY
“
Focus on unity, for there is nothing better” (Polycarp 1:2). “
...let there be one prayer, one petition, one mind, one hope, with love and blameless joy...let all of you run together as to one temple of God, as to one altar, to one Jesus Christ...” (Ignatius to the Magnesians 7:2)
When congregations achieved unity,
Ignatius honors them :
“I congratulate you who are united with him, as the church is with Jesus Christ and as Jesus Christ is with the father, that all things might be harmonious in unity. (Ign to eph 5:1)
This was NOT taught simply to the Christians, but to the Jews as well. For example, in the Dead Sea Scroll “CHARTER OF A JEWISH SECTARIAN ASSOCIATION” (1QS, 4Q, 5Q), the translators decided not to use the word “community” throughout the translation to describe this group, but rather they used one of the society’s most common self-designations: “YAHAD”, which means “unity”. It was after all, the moral ideal they sought to achieve and the word they used to describe themselves and their higher aspirations.
POST FOUR OF FIVE FOLLOWS
